There are numerous applications for industrial process filtration such as in the biotech, pharmaceutical, food and beverage industries, to name a few. In these industries, it is relatively common to employ combination adsorption and depth filter media such as the DEPTH-CLEAR series media provided by the present assignee, also referred to as Purolator Liquid Process one of the CLARCOR companies. In this type of media, particles are captured through a combination of mechanical capture due to pore size and as well as electro-kinetic adsorption. For example, cellulous media and/or synthetic materials and/or combinations thereof may be used to provide a substrate. Additionally, such material as activated carbon, clays and other materials may be supported or otherwise integrated into the disc to provide for electro-kinetic absorption.
For example, Purolator Liquid Process has a number of depth filter modules comprising stacked discs of depth filter sheets that provide for filter media elements including different series for different filtration applications (e.g. P, LE, C, SA, U, and S series). Each different series may be used for a different application. For example, the SA and U series may be used for removal of carbon particles and low levels of moisture that may result from the breakdown of dielectric oil; and therefore, can be used for filtration of a number of oils. Different grades and particle removal efficiencies may be obtained in such grades. Also, for example, the DEPTH-CLEAR S series of Purolator Liquid Process may be used for such applications as beer, wine, juices and cider, chemicals, resins, inks, varnishes and the like to remove particles, micro-organisms, colloids, and pyrogen from critical process streams. The DEPTH-CLEAR C series is a high capacity activated carbon filter module built of formed discs that also may be used in a number of different applications. Also, the DEPTH-CLEAR P and LE series are used in biotech applications such as for antibiotics, blood products, intravenous solutions, cough syrups and the like. These types of filter media elements may be employed in embodiments of the present invention.
Typically, the DEPTH-CLEAR elements and other competitive elements are installed in reusable stainless steel housings which provide for washing and cleaning ability. In such existing applications, there is considerable downtime associated with filter change out when these filter elements become spent. Specifically, change out requires isolating the housing by shutting off appropriate valves and then cleaning the housing after the filter element is removed by washing out the unfiltered filtrate contained within the housing.
Also known in the filtration industry are porous filtration bags such as the DynaClear F and DynaClear M Series of Purolator Advanced Filtration which contain filter media of a certain porosity to allow for high fluid flow at low pressure drops while having a significant contaminant holding capacity through barrier and/or depth filtration. While filter bags work adequate in some applications, it is difficult to obtain a significant surface area with filter bags. Hence, more compact filter elements such as using stacked discs as in the DEPTH-CLEAR series depth filter sheets and filter elements described above is often provided to provide for a compact assembly that provides for a high filtration capacity with substantial surface area and flow capacity.
The present invention is directed toward improvements over the state of the art.